A History of God

No single idea has played a more definitive role in the
development of modern civilisation than that of god.
However, with the growth of secularism over the
centuries, beliefs in the divine are often approached in a
reductive manner, lone icebergs in an ever-expanding
and hostile ocean. Karen Armstrong’s brilliant history
traces the formation of these complex structures
through the three major monotheistic religions over
4,000 years. In accessible and marvellously informed prose,
Armstrong uncovers the troubled history of an idea that
has both divided and inspired us, and underpins both
our ethics of compassion and four millennia of conflict.

From Abraham to atheism

Beginning with Abraham, the shared wellspring, Armstrong
illustrates how the more personal, single god of
Yahweh gradually eclipsed the primordial, polytheistic
beliefs of ancient Babylon. From here she expertly traces
the divergent prophetic philosophies that sprang from
the concept of god, some dedicated to a rational philosophy,
others mystical. Her balanced history demonstrates
how each new notion of the divine distils past beliefs to
suit evolving social conditions, from the painstaking
disciplines of Kabbalah and Sufism to the scientific
advancements of the Islamic Falsafah and the turmoil
of the European Reformation. Armstrong, a former
nun, approaches this challenge with an unerring respect
for all religious concepts, no matter how surprising, but
she is also unafraid to offer informed criticism.

Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the
University of Oxford, Tariq Ramadan introduces this
edition. He praises Armstrong’s ability to correct the
dangerous drift towards religious absolutism and how
‘critical intelligence reminds us that Truth belongs to no
one exclusively’. This is the first illustrated edition,
featuring 32 meticulously researched images that chart
the course of the divine ideal. The gold-blocked binding
is complemented by a star-covered slipcase, which
represents both the descendants of Abraham, ‘as numerous
as the stars in the sky’, and our ongoing quest to
fathom our place within an infinite universe.

Karen Armstrong’s remarkable journey from nunnery to United Nations

Historian of comparative
religion, and one of the world’s
leading commentators on religious
affairs, Karen Armstrong
was born in Worcestershire in
1944. She spent seven years
as a Roman Catholic nun before leaving her order in
1969. The success of Through the Narrow Gate, her
1981 memoir of her experiences in the convent,
prompted her to pursue a career as a full-time writer
and broadcaster.

Since 11 September 2001 she has become chiefly known
for her work on Islam and Fundamentalism, particularly
in the United States. She has been widely honoured for
her work in building bridges with the Islamic world, has
advised governments across the globe and is a UN
Ambassador for the Alliance of Civilizations. In 2008 she
received the Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom of Worship
award and the TED prize. She is currently working with
TED on a major international project to create, launch
and propagate a Charter of Compassion, created online
by the public and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, which will be signed by a thousand
religious leaders.

Her television work has included The First Christian,
a documentary series on St Paul, which she wrote
and presented in 1984. Her books include The Gospel
According to Woman (1986); Muhammad, A Biography
of the Prophet (1991); A Short History of Myth (2005);
The Bible: A Biography (2007); Twelve Steps to a
Compassionate Life (2011); and Fields of Blood (2014). A
History of God (1993) became an international bestseller

Mystery, faith and fact

This book, like all of Armstrong’s work, is a celebration of the imperative
union between the believing heart and the questioning, understanding
mind. As she examines spiritual beliefs and religious practices from
within – whether Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity or Islam –
she demonstrates boundless respect for each of them. There is a delicacy
in her approach, a veritable intellectual empathy for the principles that
underlie the aspirations of a given spiritual community. She delves deep
into religious systems and ideologies, and attempts to extract from them
the quintessence of the act of faith that explains both ritual and the striving
for salvation. Her empathy, alongside her rigorous analysis, enables
her to elude the prejudices or biases held by certain people about this
or that spiritual tradition or religion. Armstrong insists that her readers
take all religious references seriously, that they treat facts and beliefs with
equal respect, and eliminate any possible discrimination in the name of
ignorance, contempt or arrogance. The task is one of serious analysis –
of people’s beliefs, how their beliefs are manifested in real life, and the
concrete implications of those beliefs. She does this from within, and
indeed to such an extent that she convinces us of her receptiveness to the
belief systems she describes.

At the same time, she offers another perspective, drawn from a completely
different viewpoint: that of an external, contingent and critical
outlook that insists on locating scriptural sources, beliefs, rituals and
dogmas within a historical context. The point is to consider the facts, to
discuss beliefs, to situate them in time and place by submitting them to a
critical study of the history of religions. Believing readers who may have
felt their hearts in tune with Armstrong’s natural attraction to mystery
and faith are now suddenly confronted with a voluminous study of fact,
of historical verification and of scientific analysis of the sacred texts,
which are now presented as the projections of human beings, as hearsay
and even as myth.
An extract from Tariq Ramadan's introduction